Getting Started
Free Webhosts
The very first thing one needs in order to put a webpage or site on the internet is a host, At the very least, a host provides you with server space for your files (pages, images et cetera) and allows them to be viewable on the internet. Generally, most hosts have a few other incentives to attract you to their services. Incentives are extremely varied and, often, one may not need the additional incentives that a host provides when one first starts making a webpage.
When one ventures into the world of having a website or page, it’s generally as a hobby and one may be uncertain how long they’ll be interested. It’s generally advisable, then, to look at free web hosts first rather than to automatically sink money into a project which one will soon abandon. To view a comparison of popular free webhosts, click here. Some of these names (Angelfire, Geocities, Tripod) may be familiar and some may not. Although it may be difficult to estimate how much space of bandwidth your first site will need, or what specifications you may need now or in the future, most of these hosts should be more than adequate for your first site.
As you become more experienced and want to branch out, you may find that your current host is not adequate anymore. You may need more space or bandwith, better script support, the ability to upload via FTP clients so on and so forth. At some point, the requirements of your website may be more than any free web host offers and you may need to look at paid hosts.
While free web hosts will come with incentives, there are some disadvantages. For instance, because a host is free, they may display advertising (banner, pop up, link et cetera) on your webpage or site which can be an inconvenience to yourself and visitors. Free hosts may also not have direct technical support or may experience more downtime than a paid host. Unfortunately, because many webhosts are paying for expenses out-of-pocket, services or reputation may suffer, and users will need to decide how much they are willing to sacrifice in order to save money. However, many free webhosts have little or no advertisments, have good reputations, h3 technical support and suffer from little downtime.
Why Move
Generally, most personal sites start on a free host, After some time, you may notice free hosts no longer fit your needs. Commonly, free plans offer too little bandwidth and space for growing sites. Other needs which free hosts may not fill are script support, tech support, direct linking, MySQL/databases, FTP and backing up.
Another reason one may want to move hosts it because one’s URL is too long to remember of because it is not appealing. One has less choice in the appearance of one’s URL when one uses free hosting. Generally, one’s URL contains the URL of the free host and it just a subdomain or directory off of that location. This can seem impersonal or take away from the effectiveness of a creative name. Having a domain name which is one’s own can give one leverage on the world wide web.
Upgrading (Non-domain, paid hosting)
Alternatively, one may move to a paid host or upgrade with their current host to a paid plan. This solves most issues: space, bandwidth, tech support, FTP, script support, et cetera. Gemerally, however, one’s site will still be located on the host’s domain and this does not improve the appeal of the URL.
Domains
To solve the URL issue, one might purchase a domain. The decision to own a domain should be given some thought and one should consider some questions:
- Do I need it?
- Can I afford it?
- Why do I want it?
- Will I be able to make the transition slowly?
- Will I lose hits?
- Is my site good enough for a domain?
- Which company will I go through?
- How much am I willing to spend?
- What name Would I like?
When one decides to buy a domain, one must keep in mind that domain names are often purchased separately from hosting. This means that one can purchase a domain from a registrar and still not have a site on the internet. It’s necessary to also have hosting and point the domain to the DNS servers of the host. Of course, many hosting plans include domains; some are even free! It’s best to clarify this beforehand, though.
Getting Hosted
In the world of personal websites, one alternative to free hosting is especially popular: getting hosted. Getting hosted is a term which means one’s site is hosted on another personal domain, for free, often by a friend or acquaintance though one may not know the domain owner well or at all. It’s not uncommon for those who have extra resources to advertise hosting on their sites.
Getting hosted is similar to free hosts in that one’s site will be on someone else’s domain; it differs in that the domain is generally owned by a person, not a company and depending upon the host’s resources and the terms of hosting, one will have more resources available.
Because, ultimately, someone is paying for the domain and hosting – the domain owner – owners can choose to accept or deny anyone for hosting for any reason. When looking for these type of hosts, one will generally need to supply examples of work to prove ‘worthiness.’ One may apply for hosting dozens of times before someone accepts the application.
This method can be a good way to become accustomed to working with what domains and paid hosting have to offer without having to deal with the financial aspect and other responsibilities. For some, getting hosted is a stepping stone between free hosts and purchasing a domain; for others, it can be a more permanent home.
However, getting hosted can be slightly less dependable because the domain will only exist as long as the owner wants it and the owner can choose to shut it down at any time. Since one is not paying for the hosting and there is no legal agreement, one simply must find a new host and move one’s site. This is why getting to know one’s host and making sure he or she is dependable and trustworthy is a good idea.
If one is interested in getting hosted, there are several websites and communities which offer match making services for potential hosts and the people they hosts – hostees. Try one of these:
HTML Vs. Pagebuilders
One feature which is especially appealing to newcomers in the field of website maintenance and design is that of the pagebuilder and editor. Webhosts such as Angelfire and Geocities each come with their own version(s) of these tools.
Page builders are generally split into 2 categories: editors and WYSIWYG builders.
Page editors generally allow one to select options such as a layout and colours. You may be able to put in text, links or images into a generated format. Generally, options are limited with page editors and you may not be able to use HTML and pages made via this method are usually easy to pick out. However, this method is generally quick, easy to edit and difficult to “break” or mess up.
Angelfire’s Basic Editor is an example of this (click below to view screenshots of the editor and example page) as is Geocitie’s PageWizard but many hosts offer a similiar feature, although specifics may vary.
- Editor – Colors
- Editor – BG and Images
- Editor – Lists and Links
- Editor – Text Block
- Editor – Counter
- Result
WYSIWYG page builders, such as the now-defunct editor provided by Geocities (see links below for screen shots) allow a bit more flexibility. Generally, these are a program or script which allows one to work on a webpage as if one were actually viewing it. Often, these function with a “drag and drop” method where a user can pick and move elements of the page with the click of a mouse.
WYSIWYG page builders may take a lot of memory; therefore, some computers or browser may have trouble with the pagebuilder. Also, if a user does not frequently save, a computer or browser malfunction may cause the loss of all work.
Initially, a WYSIWYG builder may seem ideal because one has more direct control over the content (and its placement) on a page, while a basic editor may only offer pre-formatted layouts. However, because a user has more direct control over his webpage, he may go overboard with features such as links, clipart, different text colours and size et cetera. I know that my first WYSIWYG made web pages abused the features and tools the page builder offered.
While one may have much fun learning the ins and outs of a WYSIWYG page builder, one may be doing nothing more than causing a slow-loading page which is an eyesore to others. It’s often a good idea to pace onself and take the time to ask others for an objective view of one’s page, especially with the ability to use a WYSIWYG page builder.
Futhermore, since a WYSIWYG editor generally does not allow one to use any HTML, if one decides to learn HTML, it may be more difficult or even impossible to ‘upgrade’ a current page from WYSIWYG format to HTML than it would be to do so with a basic editor page to HTML.
For some users, neither page editors nor WYSIWYG page builders are ideal; for the most control over the look and feel of a webpage, HTML is the way to go but using HTML requires more time, patience and discipline. Because coding in HTML may not give quickest results, some users will prefer page builders or editors. However, because coding in HTML from the beginning means one will not have to transition to HTML in the future (page editors and builders may be good for beginners but many move on to HTML at a later date), it may save time overall.
Using HTML can be trickier and will definitely take more patience to learn – even the easier codes. What one may be able to do immediately in a WYSIWYG builder, one may not be able to accomplish so easily with HTML. Positioning, for instance, is easier to control with the drag and drop functionality of a WYSIWYG than with hand coding in HTML – at least initially.
Also, in the beginnining it may be easier to use poor and sloppy HTML and while some browsers will accept this, it may become an issue as one learns more about coding and becomes concerned with validation, semantics and web standards. It’s extremely easily to learn incorrect code which still works, generally, how one wants it to work.
Expanding Your Page
As you become more comfortable in making your webpage, you will probably want to add more information and content. As you do this, your page will become increasingly longer and larger in file size which can reduce loading time, especially on dial up connections.
This is a good time to consider splitting up your page into multiple pages which are connected by navigation links. Rather than deciding a web page is too long and simply ending it, it’s a good idea to divide pages into like content, so each page is logically organized. If your web page contains your bio, your favourites, shout outs to friends, pictures of yourself, and links, it might be advisable to split up this page into 3 or 4 pages where each type of content/information is on its own page: information about you, shout outs and links (and possibly pictures on a separate page).
But at what point does your page, or several pages, become a site? In my opinion, I think anything under 10 pages is too small to be considered a web site; however, a traditional definition might define a web site as simply multiple web pages.
To expand on that defnition – A web site is a number of pages networked together to present a fair deal of information to the visitor. A website pulls the visitor in deeper than a page, but not so deep that one will become lost. Every page on a website works together toward a common theme or goal whereas a web page – or several – generally do not lack the cohesion of a website and may seem random or flighty.
A visitor shuold be able to navigate a web site from one page to another and be able to find his way backward of forward without hassle. The order or structure of webpages within a site should follow some logical pattern. A visitor should be able to locate the home page or index of a website without hassle, should he wish to return. A website is generally uniform in appearance, with every page sharing the same basic colour scheme and layout.
Whereas a web page generally exists to showcase content about the author, without much thought given to overall functionality, a web site will try to provide information without losing focus on functionality and usibility.
